A Kodak Image Magic Print Station (KIMPS) allows a customer to make prints from their original photographs or some other input source (e.g. negative, slide, photoCD, etc.). To enhance the finished product and to add a personal touch, the KIMPS allows the customer to combine their image with a design border. For promotional purposes retailers may want to install seasonal (i.e. Christmas) or some local/regional event theme designed borders on their systems. After the season or event has changed or expired, the retailer has to manually delete the specific theme designed borders from the system. This is inefficient because there might be an indeterminate amount of time between the time, the season, or event is over and the time the designed borders are removed from the system. A technique for automatically activating and deleting the designed borders after a fixed period of availability is needed.
The present invention allows designed borders to be controlled by an availability date. Before the availability date, such borders can be installed on the system, but they cannot be used in image editing. Once the availability date has arrived or has passed, and before the termination date has arrived, the borders may be installed, removed, and used in image editing. When the termination date arrives, the expired borders will be removed from the system automatically.